During an encounter with wind shear at Chicago Midway Airport on June 5, the pilot of an Eclipse 500 pushed the thrust levers (throttles) forward with enough force to cause a software error that locked both engines at full power. Unable to slow the airplane for landing, the pilot elected to shut down one engine for the subsequent landing attempt.

Last summer, Eclipse shocked aviation watchers by displaying a single-engine variant of its Model 500 twinjet VLJ. The Eclipse "concept jet," or ECJ, featured seating for four (including the pilot) and borrowed key elements from the 500, including the nose, wing, avionics and engine.

The very light jet industry wasn't exactly flying high last year. A major supplier told me last summer that he expected half of all VLJ makers to fold soon. By the end of 2007, he looked clairvoyant; first the Aviation Technology Group suspended work on the two-seat Javelin and then, early in 2008, after sputtering for almost two years, Adam Aircraft shut its doors.

Ending protracted speculation about how it would address the aging fuselage cross section of its large-cabin business jets, Gulfstream Aerospace last month unveiled the G650. The model will topple the G550 from its perch as the biggest Gulfstream business jet when it enters service in the first half of 2012. (At least initially, however, the G650 will not replace the G550.)

Since being certified in 2004, this $17 million midsize jet has become one of Cessna's most popular models. One reason is that it can carry eight passengers almost 2,700 miles. Another is that it can take off and land on short runways. and then there's its intentionally simple suite of technologies, which helps minimize maintenance costs and down time.

The Learjet 60XR is Bombardier's latest iteration of a midsize model that has endured since the 1970s, the decade that gave rise to this category of business jet. Learjet's initial midsize entry was the Model 55.

When French airframer EADS Socata unveiled a souped-up version of its venerable TBM 700 single-engine turboprop in 2005, it billed the aircraft as the "anti-very light jet." Indeed, the TBM 850 will carry more payload, fly farther and typically complete a 500-mile trip about as quickly as a twinjet VLJ. It will also burn only about half the fuel and climb like a rocket.